Review Detail

"Warcross" begins a fantastic new YA series from Marie Lu. Fans of the Legend trilogy will rejoice in this new, exciting series! Although the situations and settings are different in this book, they are heavily reminiscent of the Legend trilogy (which I loved) and although carry some gravity, the themes are a lot lighter than the Elites trilogy. Here, we follow Emika, a talented hacker who is struggling to make ends meet- largely because of her criminal history. Emika is on the verge of eviction from her apartment, which will thrust her into homelessness. After her last failed attempt at catching a criminal and securing the bounty for catching him, Emika is desperate. When watching a Warcross match, she seizes an opportunity to test a new hack where she can steal a power-up right before it is used. In doing so, she glitches herself into the game and enters the world stage.

Warcross is a virtual reality game played by almost everyone on the planet. The game was created by Hideo (a young inventor) to show what his virtual reality NeuroLink glasses could do, but it quickly launched on its own to rapid popularity. After she glitches into the game, on the verge of the world championships, Hideo recruits Emika for a special job- to help him to catch a hacker (Zero) that is endangering the world championships. Emika's world completely changes overnight as she deals with her new-found fame and her new task.

The book is perfectly paced to introduce Emika, reveal the game and stakes, and to give us some insight into Hideo. The games we get to "watch" are fascinating and easy to follow- incredibly clever and imaginative, quickly getting us involved in the suspense. Lu has really captured me with this new series, and I cannot wait for the next book! All of her books are really fantastic, and this one is no different- I just wish I had the rest of the series now!